
Croatian Champions Dinamo Zagreb travel to North London next week for their 2024/25 UEFA Champions League league phase fixture against Arsenal. An interesting match-up awaits with the Gunners looking to put a foot into the automatic Last 16 places while the Prva HNL side are hoping to remain in the knockout spots.
This will be their fifth meeting in Europe’s elite club competition, with Arsenal winning three of their previous four encounters. The North London club have been tipped to push Liverpool for the PL title this term and they will be desperate to go all the way in their third consecutive title race attempt.
However, the season so far has blown hot and cold with a ten-match unbeaten start ended by a 2-0 loss at Bournemouth. The Gunners were winless in their next three Premier League matches against Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea, but regained their rhythm by thrashing Nottingham Forest 3-0.
Sporting Lisbon and West Ham were both hit for five in consecutive matches, then Arsenal sealed a commanding 2-0 victory over Manchester United. Some momentum was lost in the 1-1 draw at Fulham but Mikel Arteta’s side will nevertheless be confident of continuing their brilliant fortunes in the UCL.

The North London side will be keen to claw back into the PL title race as they are currently six points behind league leaders Liverpool – who have a game in hand – and they are also set for the Champions League Round of 16. Their qualification status should mean Mikel Arteta making many changes to his team for this game, yet they should still be strong enough to get the win.
On the other hand, Dinamo came into this season’s competition having won the Croatian league and Cup double last term. The Prva HNL club managed to qualify for the league phase after eliminating Qarabag 5–0 on aggregate, and there was optimism going into the new Champions League format.
Yet they were embarrassed on the opening day by a 9-2 shellacking at Bayern Munich to display the gulf in class from Europe’s top clubs. It was the club’s heaviest ever defeat, and the first time that one club had conceded nine goals in the history of the competition.
Manager Sergej Jakirovic was therefore sacked only two days after the Champions League match debacle as they sought a new direction. In came Nenad Bjelica who was returning to the club after four years away and the Blues have marginally improved since.

Dinamo recorded home draws with Monaco and Celtic, coupled with away wins over Slovan Bratislava and RB Salzburg as they lost to only Borussia Dortmund since that thrashing against Bayern. One more UCL victory could well be enough for a play-off spot and Dinamo will be grateful having never reached the knockout stage of this competition.
However, since that 4-1 win at Slovan Bratislava, the Citizens have gone six games without a win across all competitions and they need to be showing better form as the league stage draws to a conclusion. They need to oversee improved performances in order to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the knockouts, as well as overcome the seven-point deficit to domestic league leaders Rijeka and eternal rivals Hajduk Split.
There is a record-extending 26th Croatian Football League title up for grabs amidst this eventful continental campaign and the Blues must show they can compete on all fronts. This upcoming visit to Arsenal represents a huge game for Dinamo Zagreb who will be eyeing a massive scalp at the home of one of the best teams in the Premier League.
Should they overperform on the night and stifle a much-changed Gunners lineup, it would be amazing for their confidence in the rest of the competition. Dinamo have it all to play for while their opponents may have their attention elsewhere given their situation in the league title race and the need for rotation. Arsenal would be wary of getting an upset in front of their fans.
Match Tickets
This Champions League match-day 7 fixture takes place on Wednesday, 22 January 2025 with kick-off scheduled for 8 PM UK time. Match tickets are now available for sale on the website of each individual club and priority access is given to club members and season ticket holders.
The Emirates Stadium is a befitting venue for such an important game for the Croatian club, and the away supporters will be desperate to reserve any of the 60,000 seats available. Considering that this game should be sold out, it may be challenging to find tickets on official channels.
Both sets of fans can purchase their Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb tickets on a resale site, while other match-goers can find more Arsenal tickets for any game this season
Team News
Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko have been absent recently for the North London side. Meanwhile, defenders Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu have been sidelined for a long time due to knee injuries.

Bjelica claimed that he only had 14 fit players for the previous game against Celtic, with Arijan Ademi, Petar Sucic, Takuya Ogiwara and Bruno Petkovic all joining the likes of Raul Torrente, Juan Cordoba, Petar Sucic and Josip Misic who are also known to be missing.
Predicted Line-ups
Arsenal: Gabriel and William Saliba are the foundation for Arsenal’s impeccable solidity but injuries and suspension has caused a lot of rotation in that department this term. Yet, the Gunners pose a significant threat from attacking set-pieces with their central defenders carrying the most danger. This should be a much-changed side of fringe players looking to impress the manager.
David Raya; Thomas Partey, Jurrien Timber, Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Jorginho, Declan Rice, Ethan Nwaneri; Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling
Dinamo Zagreb: Despite the absences, there is still a lot of quality in the Dinamo squad and Sandro Kulenovic will be key to their hopes having registered 14 goals this season. There is also Marko Pjaca to provide dynamism on the wing.
Danijel Zagorac; Stefan Ristovski, Kevin Theophile-Catherine, Maxime Bernauer, Ronael Pierre-Gabriel; Arijan Ademi, Branko Pavic; Nathanael Mbuku, Martin Baturina, Marko Pjaca; Sandro Kulenovic
Prediction
The lack of a clinical finisher in the penalty box appears to have derailed the Croatian champions who have netted just once in their last five games at the time of writing. They need that presence to be able to take anything away from the Guuners and their ability to do so may depend on the availability of some key players. The fringe Arsenal side should be able to see off Dinamo Zagreb, yet it should be a very competitive game.
Arsenal 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb
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